The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by the Bill titled Amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 2013 – (rights of detainees – access to legal counsel) which was approved by Cabinet of Ministers on the 21st February 2017 and gazetted on the 6th March 2017. […]

09th March 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The first Memorandum of Understanding between the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and a Government Ministry was signed between CPA and the Ministry of National Co-Existence, Dialogue and Official Languages, yesterday, 9th March 2017. The MoU is on an audit on the status of Language Rights in central government […]

There is now a growing consensus that victims must be at the heart of any transitional justice process. Since 2015 and the government’s promise to introduce transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka, these terms have been used by varied stakeholders. The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has consistently called for a victim-centered approach in Sri […]

In 2013 – 2014, at the height of evictions and involuntary relocations across the city by the then Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, the community at Station Passage was always mentioned by other affected communities as a case where the relocation process was a positive one. The residents were going to have their new […]

The political transition of January 2015 promised ambitious reforms and raised expectations accordingly. Two years on, serious concerns have emerged with regard to the National Unity Government’s reform project. Despite some successes, the current public perception is of a slow pace or even stagnation. This in turn has resulted in disillusionment and disappointment, with questions posed […]

1 February 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka: CPA’s latest report ‘The Making of a World Class City: Displacement and Land Acquisition in Colombo’ explores the process of making Colombo a world class city, begun post-war under the Rajapaksa regime and its continuity under the yahapalanaya government. The previous government’s Urban Regeneration Programme (URP), which is being […]

27 January 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives is pleased to launch two reports on post-war urban development in Colombo. The first report (available online) ‘Living it down: Life after relocation in Colombo’s high rises’ is based on findings of a survey conducted with 1,222 households in Colombo forcibly relocated by the Rajapaksa regime while […]